FAQ

This is an on going list of questions about Lydia's Kitchen. It will be expanded with use of the program and as questions are submitted.

Question: Do you have a user's manual for Lydia's Kitchen?

Answer: Yes we do; you may download it here Help Manual Or click here to view help on a new web page. Or click here to view help embedded into this web page.

Question: Why does the user name show me as "Guest Account"?

Answer: There are a couple of answers for this: You have never registered with Lydia's Kitchen You have forgotten to log-in

Question: What is the advantage of registering?

Answer: As a guest you are limited to viewing and printing recipes from the public area. As a registered user you may participate by joining clubs and sharing your recipes.

Question: Why do you want to know where I live?

Answer: Fair question; the answer is that since you?ve joined a club you are looking for others who share your interests. By providing a city and zip code you let others know if you are ?local? or half way around the world. Please note that we never ask for a specific address or phone number; Lydia?s Kitchen is not running on a secured server and you should never post personal information.

Question: I don?t want everyone knowing my name; do I have to fill in my name?

Answer: Names are how humans associate actions and events with other people, they help us create a bond. You may elect to use a nickname or like Norma Jeane use a stage name (Marilyn Monroe). Choose what makes you comfortable.

Question: I forgot my password; how can I retrieve it again?

Answer: The program has not been design to validate users and return passwords. The site is considered unsecured and your password is only used to restrict who may edit and delete recipes. If you forget your user name or password register as a new user and enjoy life, the biggest problem it will cause you is not being able to edit prior recipes.

Question: I want to edit my recipe ingredients; how can I do that?

Answer: Click the ?Edit recipe? link and scroll down to STEP 2. Use the previous and next buttons ( PREV & NEXT) to find the ingredient you want to change. Note that there is an ingredient counter above the input boxes to help you navigate through the ingredients. Type over the current ingredient entry replacing the mistake and then press PREV or NEXT to record the change.

Question: I want to add another ingredient to my recipe; how can I do that?

Answer: Click the ?Edit recipe? link and scroll down to STEP 2. Since your recipe already has some ingredients the editor will display them. To add a new ingredient, type over any ingredient entry and then press NEW recording it. You will see the ingredient counter increase by one every time you press the NEW button.

Question: Some members have formatted their profile and stories, how can I do that too?

Answer: Lydia?s Kitchen will accept limited HTML tags (for detailed instruction download the user manual) they are <B >, <U >, <I >, <UL >, <BR >, <P >. You may Google these tags to learn more about their use.

Question: What is a club?

Answer: Clubs are a lose-knit group of registered users sharing a common interest. No hard fast definitions are provided for clubs. Clubs are supposed to be based around food, but you may add any twist that you can dream up. Just one rule is hard and fast BE NICE! Club Moderators may elect to send out news letters to club members. Club members can not elect to be excluded from the mailing list. Lets face it you joined the club because of a shared interest, plus the fact that mail traffic shouldn?t be that heavy.

Question: Who may join a club?

Answer: Club membership is restricted to registered users. A user may be a member of a maximum of 4 clubs at any one time. Users submit a request for membership to the club Moderator and if the membership is approved their account is flagged to permit access to the club recipes.

Question: How can I tell what clubs I?m a member of?

Answer: When you log-in clubs you have joined will be displayed on the ?Welcome? screen. And the ?Choose a club? list is filtered to show only clubs you have joined. So if you are a guest the ?Choose a club? list will be limited to show PUBLIC AREA only.

Question: I want to start a club; what are the rules and responsibilities?

Answer: The requirements to start a club are simple ? the desire too ? On the club overview page (found in the ?Club Introduction? list box) click the link ?start a club? and a blank club introduction editor will open for you. Fill in the club introduction page (read other club introductions for examples) and click submit. Then an upload form will be presented, use this to upload a picture for your club page. After that the Administrator will review the page content. I?ll be looking for content, not judging the content, and a less then XXX picture. When your club has been approved you?ll see it appear in the ?Club Introductions? list box.

Question: What is a Moderator?

Answer: A moderator is a person who has started a club; they approve all requests for membership. They are also granted permission to edit and delete recipes within their club and may elect to send out a club email (Newsletter).

Question: I want to upload a picture; what are the rules?

Answer: It must be a picture; I accept only GIF, JPG, JPEG and PNG file types. The file size is limited to 100K Bytes (100,000). That gives enough file size for 400 X 200 resolution and color but doesn?t force me to store professional quality prints (which can range into 100?s of megabytes)

Question: I don?t understand all this stuff about resolution and file size, where can I get help?

Answer: Try Googling the terms and you?ll find links like these, Image resolution or Resolution Wikipedia

Question: May I print a recipe?

Answer: Printing is limited to the displayed recipe, no formatting is provided and printing is considered a ?raw dump?. All print settings, such as ?print background?, are controlled by the user?s browser settings.

Question: How can I find other recipes written by a member?

Answer: Select a known recipe by that member and then click the "show profile" button. All recipes this member has submitted to this club will be listed at the bottom of the profile. In addition all public recipes for that member will also be displayed.